Since 1991 it has been led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is now the leader of al-Qaeda.[5] According to Zawahiri, the EIJ was "different from the Takfir wal Hijra group as we do not consider people infidels because of their sins. And we are different from the Muslim Brotherhood because sometimes they do not oppose the government".[8]

The organization's original main goal was to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state based on the way it thought Islam should be. Later it broadened its aims to include attacking the United States and Israel, and other interests in Egypt and abroad.

Islamic Jihad was responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Sadat's Sinaitreaty with Israel, which recognized the Jewish state, made them very angry.[4]

In June 2001, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had been associated with each other for many years, merged into 'Qaeda al-Jihad'.[5]

"...the members of Islamic Jihad and its guiding figure, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have provided the backbone of [al-Quaeda's] leadership. According to officials in the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., Zawahiri has been responsible for much of the planning of the terrorist operations against the United States".[5]